The Canadian Centre for Unmanned Vehicle Systems (CCUVS) announced that it has received the necessary approvals to manage a permanent area of Restricted Airspace in Southeast Alberta that is being created for the purpose of flying Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS).
This airspace designation is the first of its kind in Canada and will be available for UAS training, research and development for civil and commercial purposes. The airspace is particularly attractive for companies that wish to fly Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS), a capacity that opens up significant commercial opportunities. It is anticipated that flight operations could commence as early as the end of 2014.
The Restricted Airspace results from more than six years work by the CCUVS in partnership with the Village of Foremost, Alberta. With 750 square nautical miles of airspace designated up to 18,000 feet above sea level, this announcement is welcomed by the global UAS industry.“This pioneering initiative will give Canadian and international UAS operators a unique location to safely train and develop UAS for BVLOS flights in Canada,” said Roger Haessel, Chief Executive Officer, CCUVS.
The historic announcement was made on July 24, 2014 by the Honourable Doug Horner, President of Treasury Board and Minister of Finance for the Government of Alberta.
The Canadian Centre for Unmanned Vehicle Systems is a federally registered not-for- profit corporation with a mandate to facilitate and encourage sustained, profitable growth in Canada’s unmanned systems sector with a focus on civil and commercial applications. CCUVS was incorporated in 2007 and is based in Medicine Hat, Alberta.
Source: Press Release